Since that day, I started to learn how to defend and fight and more about the Elvanshee. What I've learned from the books is one thing, but learning upfront in person is different. They can be elegant, fierce and ruthless if needed by some of the warriors Meran brought along. A handful of them were women, which surprised me since being in a sort of medieval setting, I was assuming it would be more of a man's role as it's known in human history. Well, that's human for that fact. Meran made me busier than before with learning the Gaelic language and spells. Now I will have training with him and his people to build up my condition, sharpen my reflexes and learn the sorts of weapons. I've lost count of the days, but it feels long, and I haven't gotten a chance to learn proper combat with a simple sword at hand. However, I haven't seen the King lately near me, which I am not complaining. Nonetheless, as more days passed, I wasn't happy that I wasn't progressing in the fighting part than my knowledge with spells and the Gaelic language, which Meran spoke fluently to my amazement.
So, the following morning I walked up to Meran with balled fists at my side. "Maidin Meran." (Morning Meran) I greeted him gravely with their greeting gesture by placing my right hand upon my left shoulder and bowed the head.
"Maidin Ina." He gave his greeting calmly, sensing I have something to say to him.
I sighed through my nose as I tried to remain calm and faced him. "When will I learn to fight with a sword and all these weapons you showed me thus far?"
"When you're ready." Answered Meran calmly.
"I feel ready to do this. I know already my way with magic and spells."
I heard a suppressed scoff behind me from one of the warriors. I didn't avert my eyes off Meran's.
"As I've mentioned before, knowing magic is one thing of how getting around in this world but with combat skills and knowledge is entirely different. Do you know why?" He asked calmly.
"Well, magic is magic, and fighting can be like fighting with a weapon or your bare hands, nothing magical," I answered.
"So, in your perspective, you keep magic and combat fighting apart like black and white?" Meran wondered. "Can you define to me what is magic and what is a weapon? In your words."
I opened my mouth, but nothing came, and I realized what he was trying to tell me there, I think.
Meran grinned at my reaction. "It's a noble thought to keep magic and weapon apart, but unfortunately, the world allows others to see it differently." He paused. "If your situation is dire, you can make with nearly anything a weapon to cause harm. Even your own body with and without magic can be a weapon. In my world, we have a martial art called Lastif. It will show you the technics how to defend without magic. As soon you're ready, we'll move on to the swords and other melee weapons and, in the end, how to combine with magic."
"I hope you learned your lesson." Smiled Killa as she jogged beside me. "Sounded kind of cute like a little child wanting to become a warrior back there," she nudged more than generously against my arm. "It reminded me back when I was younger-"
"Oh no, please, Killa. Spare us the words," sighed the other warriors, annoyed as we all jogged and picked up the pace to avoid her from talking. Killa may appear roguish and robust, but she's the most talkative one among the warriors, especially recalling her fond memories of her childhood and past. Most of the other warriors are introverted and may appear too serious at first glance. Still, once I got to know them better, there was more, and many have a great sense of humour, but there is always the one who is a bit behind, Cearnagg. He's strong, and I didn't miss that on the first encounter from his muscles and stern-looking face, but he isn't the sharpest tool in the shed, so to speak. The Elvanshee folk are different in appearance by their pointy ears and violet eyes. They have more sensitive senses than humans do. Hence, their reflexes are quicker. I ended as the last in the round, as always with my human speed and reflexes. Even in playing some of their games, I was too slow and ended landing flat on my face or getting bruises. There were moments I felt like a child from the way I reacted. They even started to call me 'ornana', which means girl in their native tongue. At first, I took this as teasing but soon, I decided to see it differently as part of my process; I am at the moment with my lacking fighting skills as a girl. Still, hopefully, soon, I'll develop into a woman, a warrior like them.
Killa came up to me after a long day of training and failing. She smiled warmly as she handed me a moist cloth to wash off the dirt on my face from the previous game that ended me landing flat on my face. "Are you alright?" She asked softly.
"Could have been worse." I forced a smile.
She crouched down to me. "I wanted to tell you that today you did better at the game and training than the other days. The zaghme (fellow warriors & friends) think so the same as I do. We notice how hard you're trying, and we had to remind ourselves that you are a menscahme (human), not one of our own kind. We all care for you." She paused and looked up to think it over. "Well, in our own way about you. We see you as part of the family who still has a lot to learn when it comes to fighting."
"Thanks, Killa." I thanked her, knowing she tried to comfort me.
"A hint, try to sneak in some of your knowledge of magic into the game next time." She patted me heartily on the back before she walked off.
I blinked at her hint and wondered what will the consequences be. Yet, I do recall Meran noting nothing of using magic in the game and saying using weapons can be anything magical as well as not. It's worth a shot tomorrow morning. Slowly I got up to my feet and felt the exhaustion wanting to pull me down like gravity. I sighed to gather some strength to walk to my room and bed. Along the way, I walked past the various platforms near the waterfall, where I met the King for the first time. On a smaller platform, I spotted Meran alone, moving strangely and not wearing his blue cape. Curiosity got the better in me, so I climbed up to take a closer look. Barely peeking over the rim of the stone platform, I noticed at first a blur of blue moving, but soon I was able to make out Meran and follow his moves. He wore a thin fabric in the same blue as his cape as a loose jumper with a marine blue wide cloth belt around his waist and hips like pirates wore. His trousers were dark and looked nearly like normal trousers from my world, accompanied by dark long hunter boots made out of leather with only one small buckle at the top at his calves.
I blinked as if waking from a dream from that sound. Immediately as I realized, my ears grew warm. "Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you."415Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbCb2x9Scg7
"That's alright. Is there something you wanted to talk about?" He asked politely in a calm tone that soothed me, and the warm ears were gone.
I shook my head. "I was admiring what you did before; what is that?"
"That's Lastif, the fighting technic you will learn soon. It's a combination of fighting and dancing. Similar to what you know from your world called shadow boxing and krav maga."
"How do you know of my world?" I asked.
Meran grinned. "My home, Fhairras, was once closely connected to your world many millennia ago, especially with the Celts. I believe you have heard of the Tara brooch?" He paused.
"The ancient brooch from Ireland that was done by the Celts with their impressive intricate detail in blacksmith?" I recalled, amazed.
He scoffed, amused. "That is actually our handiwork, but the Celts took for their own credit among other artefacts and some of our language and culture." He sighed. "Ever heard of clans in Ireland and Scotland?"
I nodded speechlessly as I realized what he meant.
Suddenly he stood in front of me and offered his hand with a warming grin. "Would you like to give it a try with Lastif?"
"Yeah," I smiled and took his hand to step onto the platform.
Meran led me to the platform's centre and showed me the first few stances, positions and moves. It was all combined with balance, breathing and being one with the mind, body and the environment. At that point, I realized how vital these points are in a fight. I have to multitask and be aware of many things and yet focus on what lies in front of me or where the fight will lead me. From the breathing, I became more aware of my body and mind. Soon I followed the first set that Meran has taught me, and we were in synch in human speed, of course. We ended by pointing out our right fist towards the setting sun on the horizon. The stance reminded me of fencing that I once did many years ago as a child. This is definitely different from how to learn how to fight, not to mention this time it is serious.
"You did well for the first time." Lauded Meran as he took a swig of a leather bottle of water and threw his blue cape over his left shoulder.
I sighed with a smile. "I have a good teacher."
He smiled back and walked ahead, "come on, it's getting dark."
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